Sorry Tom Holland - Andrew Garfield Says Tobey Maguire Is His Favorite Spider-Man
Andrew Garfield has been doing tons of interviews (and making headlines all over the place) for his new movie with Florence Pugh called 'We Live In Time' - and this latest piece from Vanity Fair put him in the very tricky situation of picking a favorite Spider-Man.
I think for most people around my age, Tobey Maguire is the obvious nostalgic pick - but there's certainly a younger generation that LOVES Andrew Garfield's wisecracking, skateboarding, cool Peter Parker - and then Tom Holland, while the most recent Spider-Man, is pretty widely considered to have the best performance/actual material to work with in his movies….so who does Garfield go with?!
Sorry Tom - but the nostalgia takes over for Andrew Garfield on this one; it's Tobey Maguire.
Garfield used to get stoned and practice Tobey's Spider-Man lines when he was studying acting in drama school, so you could see how that performance would be near and dear to his heart….
You want my take on this?
Even considering the dreaded "Emo Peter" scenes in 'Spider-Man 3'….
….I can't hate on the pick at all. I've got as much nostalgia for those movies and Tobey's portrayal of our Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man as anybody. They were the first movies I could remember seeing in theaters, and I had all the toys, costumes, posters, video games, cereals, and more. If it had Spidey branding, I was begging my parents to buy it for me.
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I do believe that Tom Holland has put in enough great work to overtake Tobey as the definitive Spider-Man at this point.
Not only is he more believable as a genius kid in high school thrust into the superhero life, but the rollercoaster of an arc he's been on from his first appearance in 'Captain America: Civil War' to blipping away and back again in 'Infinity War/Endgame' to meeting his multiversal counterparts in 'No Way Home' has been nothing short of incredible, and it's allowed Holland to showcase a wide range of emotions that always ooze Peter Parker's spirit.
I mean, just take his performance in the wake of Aunt May's death for example….
That's a god damn actor right there. No disrespect to Tobey (again, who I LOVE) but his reaction to Uncle Ben's death is a lot more dramatic/over the top and has become a cheap reaction meme at this point….
Tom Holland has had so many of those great scenes at this point - Michael Keaton's Vulture bringing him to prom, Holland stepping out from under the rubble at the end of that movie, the infamous "Mr. Stark I don't feel so good" and his reunion with Tony on the battlefield in 'Endgame', locking in to defeat Mysterio at the end of 'Far From Home', the eerie Spider-Sense scene with Goblin in 'No Way Home' and the near-attempt to kill him later on….I could go on and on, but you get the point. Tom Holland is my favorite Spider-Man, even if Tobey's 'Spider-Man 2' may still my favorite of the films overall.
Oh, and don't get me wrong, I think Garfield is amazing in the role as well (pun intended) - but he got the short end of the stick in material. I think the first 'Amazing Spider-Man' movie is pretty good, or at least watchable, but the second falls off a cliff faster than you could say Electro. It's real bad. Thank god for 'No Way Home' where it felt like Garfield got to totally redeem that with a show-stealing performance alongside the two more popular Spider-Men, because I think it took a lot of people until then to realize how good he truly is as Peter Parker. Honestly, we've yet to have someone who didn't knock the role outta the park!
I discussed all of this (and more) with UFC legend Matt Serra on his new 'Geeking Out' podcast last week - so if this blog got your Peter Tingle going, check that out below….